“The entire Blue Star’s network has already collapsed. Light brains and computers are all unusable.” Xiahou Shao Xuan threw away the light brain in his hand, turned around, and walked over to sit beside Lian Qiguang.
Lian Qiguang hugged a large bowl, eating grapes expressionlessly. He was not surprised in the slightest by Xiahou Shao Xuan’s words. “This outbreak is planet-wide. Whether it’s the government headquarters or military bases, they have probably already suffered attacks from the zombies. Forget the network—even the power supply, I estimate, won’t last much longer.”
“Eat less.” Seeing that Lian Qiguang had already eaten nearly half the grapes in his hand, Xiahou Shao Xuan reached out and took them away, placing them to the side. “Your body is weak right now. Eating that much isn’t good for you.”
Lian Qiguang calmly rubbed his hand against Xiahou Shao Xuan’s clothes. Looking at the sky outside that was gradually growing dark, he narrowed his eyes. “It’s about to get dark. Once night falls, the zombies will have nothing to fear. At that time, the symphony of hell will only just begin.”
Xiahou Shao Xuan looked at the devastating sight of war burning outside the window and remained silent. Facing the zombies’ massacre, it wasn’t that he wasn’t angry. As a soldier, he should have rushed outside to save those humans. But he couldn’t abandon Lian Qiguang.
Moreover, looking at the severed limbs scattered throughout the city, enough to make one’s scalp crawl, and the densely packed heads constantly writhing about, no matter how powerful Xiahou Shao Xuan was, his supernatural ability would eventually become depleted. The zombies, however, would not feel tired. When thousands upon thousands of zombies surged over together, as humans, being devoured was merely a matter of an instant.
“Pack up. Let’s go.” Lian Qiguang stood up and stretched lazily, then wrapped his arms around Xiahou Shao Xuan’s waist and said calmly.
“Where?”
“I’m a little worried about Lian Yucheng. Let’s go check on him.” Lian Qiguang frowned slightly. “The food here has already been mostly eaten, and the zombies have also dispersed quite a bit. We need to arrive before dark.”
Xiahou Shao Xuan looked at Lian Qiguang in his arms and tightened his arms around him, but he did not say anything to stop him. He understood Lian Qiguang’s worry. Lian Yucheng’s supernatural ability was not strong. Although Long Ying was protecting him, facing these terrifying monsters carrying viruses, Long Ying could protect himself, but protecting Lian Yucheng and Lian Xiaoqiu at the same time would be difficult.
Fortunately, the two families were not far apart. Xiahou Shao Xuan believed he could protect Lian Qiguang while reaching Lian Yucheng’s home at the fastest possible speed.
Xiahou Shao Xuan changed into a training military uniform suitable for combat. At Lian Qiguang’s protests, he also helped Lian Qiguang put on long clothes and long sleeves, then wrapped him in a large coat.
“Let’s go.” Xiahou Shao Xuan held Lian Qiguang’s sword in one hand and gestured for him to follow.
“Take Qianming out.” Lian Qiguang swallowed the last mouthful of food and stored the rest in his spatial storage. He raised his head and looked at Xiahou Shao Xuan. “It has a certain suppressive and intimidating effect on zombies.”
“No need.” Xiahou Shao Xuan stroked Lian Qiguang’s head and said in a deep voice. Qianming’s baleful aura was too heavy, and it was difficult to control. Lian Qiguang was in a special period right now and could not afford even the slightest accident.
Xiahou Shao Xuan led Lian Qiguang to the door and slowly pulled it open. Immediately, a foul stench rushed toward them. Even Xiahou Shao Xuan could not help frowning. He lowered his head and looked at Lian Qiguang. “Can you handle it?”
“I’m fine. I got used to it a long time ago.” Lian Qiguang shook his head. He had even eaten it before, so what was there to fear about a smell?
As if he had also thought of something unpleasant, Xiahou Shao Xuan’s eyes darkened, and the arm holding Lian Qiguang tightened slightly.
“Let’s go.” Lian Qiguang tugged at Xiahou Shao Xuan and slowly stepped out of the room.
The originally bustling street was now desolate as far as the eye could see. Broken passageways, collapsed buildings, all kinds of aircraft and hover cars crashed into one another, while flames dyed half the sky red.
Bodies lay scattered all over the ground, mutilated beyond recognition. Red-and-white brains and exposed intestines were everywhere. One or two zombies crouched on top of them, greedily devouring them.
Xiahou Shao Xuan lightened his footsteps, carefully walking through the silent street. Occasionally, one or two zombies discovered them and lunged ferociously, but Xiahou Shao Xuan silently split their heads open.
“Low-level zombies can’t see. They rely on smell and sound to hunt for food.” Lian Qiguang leaned against Xiahou Shao Xuan’s arms and explained quietly. “Once zombies reach the Warrior rank, as their intelligence increases, their eyesight will gradually recover.”
“Mm.” Xiahou Shao Xuan responded in a low voice. With a wave of his hand, he sliced off the heads of the zombies on both sides of the road that were tearing apart a man who was still twitching.
Lian Qiguang glanced up at Xiahou Shao Xuan, whose brows were tightly furrowed. An ice spike flew out and pierced the man’s head. The man, who had still been twitching, instantly fell silent.
“He’s already doomed. Even if you don’t kill him, he’ll become a zombie.” Lian Qiguang withdrew his hand and said calmly. “You have to learn to get used to it.”
“I know.” Xiahou Shao Xuan placed one hand on Lian Qiguang’s head, his voice low as if he were desperately suppressing something.
“If…” After remaining silent for a moment, Lian Qiguang pursed his lips. “If you really can’t accept it, wait until he mutates before you act. At that time, he will already no longer be human.”
Looking at Lian Qiguang as he desperately searched for the words to explain, Xiahou Shao Xuan couldn’t help curling his lips into a smile. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll accept all of this as quickly as possible.”
“Boom!!”
A loud explosion interrupted their conversation. Not far away, a metal building suddenly collapsed, and countless zombies surged out from within like a tidal wave.
Xiahou Shao Xuan’s expression changed, and Lian Qiguang also frowned. He grabbed Xiahou Shao Xuan and turned to run. “Hurry! This place will attract even more zombies very soon.”
Xiahou Shao Xuan had originally been planning to deal with these monsters, but his eyes darkened. He could no longer concern himself with anything else and followed Lian Qiguang in running in the opposite direction.
Sure enough, following the zombies’ roars, more and more zombies surrounded them from all directions. Their roars mixed with the stench of corpses, making people feel utterly hopeless.
“There.” As they turned a corner, Xiahou Shao Xuan immediately spotted an intact shopping mall. He quickly carried Lian Qiguang over.
“It won’t open.” Looking at the tightly closed shopping mall, Lian Qiguang raised his head toward Xiahou Shao Xuan. The roars behind them were getting closer and closer. Xiahou Shao Xuan frowned tightly and was just about to force his way inside when the tightly closed doors suddenly opened.
Xiahou Shao Xuan’s eyes narrowed, and lightning gathered in his hand.
“Deadwood?”
An astonished voice came from behind the door. Lian Qiguang followed the voice and saw Feng Qingyang, covered in blood and looking utterly disheveled, staring at him in disbelief.
A zombie suddenly pounced from somewhere. Xiahou Shao Xuan’s face turned cold, and he raised his hand and smashed the lightning in his palm down. Not even a head remained.
“Hurry and come in.” Feng Qingyang recovered from his shock, moved aside to make way, and let Lian Qiguang and Xiahou Shao Xuan inside. He then quickly closed the door and activated the protective barrier.
The zombies outside gradually gathered together and crazily slammed into the tightly closed building. Bright-red blood and scattered pieces of flesh stuck to the building’s glass, causing everyone inside to turn pale and bend over, unable to suppress their dry heaving.
“Deadwood.” Qing Yi wiped the filth from the corner of her mouth and walked weakly over to Lian Qiguang. “Why are you here?”
Lian Qiguang swept his eyes over the groups of people scattered throughout the building, huddled together in twos and threes. His brows furrowed slightly, and a dark glint flashed through his eyes.
“Passing by.” Lian Qiguang took Xiahou Shao Xuan’s hand and walked over to an empty single-person sofa. He had Xiahou Shao Xuan sit down, then sat on his lap himself and asked calmly, “How did you end up here?”
“We were originally in class. We don’t know why, but suddenly a lot of those monsters from before appeared from all directions. They rushed over and tried to…” Lan Qi walked over, his face deathly pale, his voice trembling with undisguised panic.
“We thought the academy would deal with them soon, but we never expected that there would be more and more of these monsters. The academy quickly fell.”
“Fortunately, Qing Yi was the first to notice that something was wrong. She stole an aircraft and escaped. We originally planned to go home, but when we passed by here, a group of very strange birds suddenly rushed out. The aircraft was destroyed by them, and we fell from it. While being chased by a group of monsters, we fled into this building.”
“Zombie birds?” Lian Qiguang was shocked, his body tensing. Xiahou Shao Xuan held Lian Qiguang and silently soothed his emotions.
“Zombie birds? What are those?” Feng Qingyang asked in confusion.
“A nightmare that is countless times more terrifying than zombies.” As if he had remembered something, Lian Qiguang’s expression became exceptionally ugly, and his voice was suppressed and low.
“Deadwood, what exactly are these monsters?” Lan Qi asked with a pale face.
“Zombies. Weren’t they covered in the textbooks?”
“Zombies?”
The word caused an uproar throughout the surroundings.
“Deadwood, you—you aren’t talking about those terrifying monsters from ancient times, are you?” Feng Qingyang asked in a trembling voice.
“Mm.”
“But, but didn’t those monsters already disappear?”
Lian Qiguang raised his head and expressionlessly looked at the zombies writhing outside the building. He said calmly, “The apocalypse has descended once again.”
“Deadwood.” Qing Yi walked over and looked at Lian Qiguang’s belly, concealed beneath his loose coat. She asked tentatively, “Your child…”
“Very healthy.” Lian Qiguang placed one hand on his round belly, and his voice clearly relaxed somewhat.
“That’s good.” Qing Yi breathed a sigh of relief and smiled.
“They are…” Lian Qiguang turned his gaze toward the people gathered in the distance and asked woodenly.
“They’re all people who came here to escape.” Qing Yi glanced across the group and explained. “There are academy students as well as adults.”
Lian Qiguang swept his gaze around. His eyes turned cold. “Has anyone been injured by zombies?”
Lian Qiguang’s question caused everyone to look at one another, confusion written across their faces.
“Deadwood? Being able to survive is already a blessing. It’s only natural that people would suffer some injuries.”
“Natural?” A cold light suddenly flashed through Lian Qiguang’s eyes. “After fleeing for so long, hasn’t anyone discovered that as long as someone is injured by these zombies, even if it’s only a tiny break in the skin, they will immediately mutate and become one of them?”
“What!!”
Exclamations rang out all around. The people who had originally gathered together quickly scattered, their eyes filled with wariness and vigilance as they looked at those around them.
“Deadwood, you—you aren’t joking, are you?” Feng Qingyang looked at Lian Qiguang, his expression somewhat stiff.
“You’re injured?” Lian Qiguang’s gaze swept toward Feng Qingyang, his voice cold.
“No! No!!” Seeing Lian Qiguang’s displeased expression, Feng Qingyang hurriedly shook his head. “I only scraped my skin a little when I fell from the aircraft. I wasn’t grabbed by those monsters.”
“What exactly are you!!” A somewhat plump woman stood up and glared fiercely at Lian Qiguang. “We kindly let you two in, and this is how you repay us, spouting nonsense and sowing discord? What exactly are you trying to accomplish?”
“Young man.” A refined-looking man also spoke. “I know you’re frightened after experiencing something like this, but you can’t make such jokes. Now that the disaster has erupted, as humans, we must unite and face the enemy together.”
…………
Once someone had started, naturally more and more people began speaking, criticizing Lian Qiguang.
Listening to the increasingly unpleasant words, Xiahou Shao Xuan’s face grew darker and darker, and the pressure around him continued to drop. Just as he was about to speak, Lian Qiguang suddenly stood up.
“Shao Xuan, let’s go.” He had already warned them. They had refused to listen, so whether they lived or died was no longer his concern.
Xiahou Shao Xuan swept a cold gaze around the room and nodded slightly. “Okay.”
“Deadwood!” Qing Yi stepped forward and looked seriously at Lian Qiguang. “Can I follow you?”
“And me.” Lan Qi stepped forward. “I won’t cause you trouble. I can protect myself.”
“Deadwood.” Feng Qingyang stepped forward, his voice solemn. “I believe what you just said.”
Eight-tenths of the people here had been injured. If what Lian Qiguang said was true…
Thinking of this, the three of them couldn’t help shivering.
Lian Qiguang looked at the three of them indifferently. After remaining silent for a long time, he gave a slight nod. “Okay!”
“We can’t get out through the main entrance.” Xiahou Shao Xuan looked at the zombies blocking the entrance and said in a deep voice. “We’ll go to the top floor first, then think of a way.”
“Yes!”
The three of them immediately stood straight and gave a military salute.
“Wait!!”
Just as the three were about to leave, an exclamation suddenly came from behind.
“You! You’re—you’re Major General Xiahou!!”
“……”